If as you grocery-shop this month, you see Boy Scouts standing at the doors of the supermarket soliciting donations to the Scouting for Food drive, don't think of the food going to some anonymous "poor" person.

          Instead picture it going to your neighbor or to the family of your child's classmate. That is where it will likely go, according to food bank directors in the South Hills who said that the number of clients they are serving has spiked in recent months.

          Layoffs, the mortgage crisis and the shaky economy have pushed more people into food pantry lines, and among the new clients are people from what once had been the solid middle class -- those who, in the past, might have been more likely to donate than to use a food bank.

          Maryann Stock, director of the St. Winifred food pantry in Mt. Lebanon, has seen a dramatic increase in the number of clients in the past two years. Prior to that time, the St. Winifred pantry served between 350 and 375 families. During the past two years that number has been around 550 families. "We are seeing a lot of people getting laid off again. Eighty Four Lumber had closings last year and we saw some of their people coming here. Some are people who worked for small businesses who had to let them go because business is bad," Mrs. Stock said.

          At the Brentwood Presbyterian Church Food Pantry, coordinators Gail and Tom Williams served 40 families a month when they took over in 2000. Now they are serving 130 families.

          Mrs. Williams said her clients "run the gamut" of ages and backgrounds. Some are senior citizens who can't make it on fixed incomes, some are young families with children and some "are people coming in and you can tell they are just devastated that they have to come here," she said.

          Mr. Guffey said a 2005 Brookings Institute study showed that suburban poverty significantly outnumbered urban poverty for the first time. But the fact is often hidden, he said.

          "[People] think, 'while I am still living here in Bethel Park and my children are still in school with their friends here, I don't want anyone to know,' " Mr. Guffey said.

          Joyce Rothermel, chief executive officer of the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, said that statistics show one of three people in the city of Pittsburgh qualifies as a client for food banks and one of seven in Allegheny County qualifies.

          To qualify, individuals and families have to meet federal guidelines that require they make less than 150 percent of the poverty level: from $1,276 a month for a household of one to $3,016 for a household of five.

          In addition, most of the area pantries are supported by churches and other community organizations that hold periodic food and funding drives. During periods when food pantry usage increases, the directors ask the churches and organizations to hold additional collections.

          "I'm very fortunate here in that I am in a community where if I can articulate the need, the community is in a position to respond. If I lived in a depressed community they might not be able to respond," said Mr. Guffey, of Interfaith Ministries.

          Ms. Little of Rainbow Kitchen Community Services, predicts there will be even more need facing food pantries after school is out for the summer because children in most of the families she serves qualify for free breakfast and lunch programs at school.

          Most food pantries try to serve other family needs as well, by helping them to sign up for food stamps and energy assistance, collecting used clothing and hooking them up with other social service agencies that can help to meet their needs.

          But sometimes, finding their way to a food pantry for the first time can be the biggest obstacle for a family, Mr. Guffey said.